*Trump Says US ‘Not Satisfied’ With Iran Deal Yet
*Draft Ceasefire Extension Pending Trump’s Approval
THE United States (US) and Iran reached an outline agreement on Thursday, May 28, to extend their ceasefire, pending the approval of President Donald Trump, after Iran had targeted a US air base in Kuwait, following US strikes on what Washington called an Iranian drone operation.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the two sides agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to extend the truce for 60 days, but the plan still needed Trump’s signoff.
The news was first reported by Axios, which said that negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme would be held during that period.
The reports prompted oil prices to reverse course and trade lower on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Reuters reported that Trump has repeatedly said the end of the war is close, but told media at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday he was not yet satisfied by the negotiations and that the US was not discussing easing sanctions, one of Tehran’s demands.
The latest attacks, while limited, highlighted the fragility of negotiations to turn the tenuous early-April ceasefire into a lasting agreement to end the three-month-old war, which has killed thousands, and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The US Central Command said US forces had shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a sixth.
Kuwaiti forces had then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country, which hosts a large US base.
“These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” a US official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about military operations, told Reuters earlier.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted the US base responsible for an early-morning attack near Bandar Abbas airport and that any repeat would lead to a “more decisive response,” Tasnim news agency reported.
Kuwait condemned the attack and demanded that Iran immediately halt what it called a serious escalation.
The violence, the second flare-up this week, coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha celebrated across the region, where multiple countries have been caught up in the conflict triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
Mediator, Pakistan, said its Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, would meet US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in Washington on Friday, May 29, although the significance of his visit was unclear.
